Paul Massey makes mayoral run official

Cushman & Wakefield’s Paul Massey has officially announced that he is running for mayor of New

Cushman & Wakefield’s Paul Massey has officially announced that he is running for mayor of New York City.

The former CEO of Massey Knakal, the eponymous real estate firm founded by Massey and partner Bob Knakal in 1988, announced August 5 he was filing paperwork with the New York City Campaign Finance Board to create a legal committee for a 2017 mayoral run.

A press release sent by his PR team noted the committee will be called “Massey for Mayor 2017,” and said a formal announcement of his candidacy will come later this fall.

Paul Massey

A website called “Massey for Mayor” went live on the same day, and includes a bio of Massey, links to his newly-created social media pages, and links to donate to his campaign.

The press release also made sure to point out that Massey won’t be entering the New York City public matching fund program during his campaign, and that it instead will be funded “entirely by donors, which will include himself.”

“I love this city and I am concerned about where it’s headed,” said Massey in a statement. “My team and I are taking a leadership role by filing my candidacy today. We are currently meeting with New York City civic and thought leaders, as well as with individual New Yorkers to hear their ideas and to listen to their concerns. In the months ahead, we will be sharing our strategic vision for the city.”

He also stated that his team will be “top-notch and bipartisan.”

“It was Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia who famously noted that there’s no Democratic or Republican way to pick up the trash, and he was right,” said Massey.

“I firmly believe that, with proper management, New York City’s best days are ahead. This is not a tale of two cities; this is the world’s greatest city and diversity is our strength.” He cited his success with Massey Knakal and the “intimate” knowledge of the neighborhoods of NYC that the job entailed as factors that qualify him to lead the city.

“I look forward to deepening my connections to each of those communities as a candidate and as mayor.” The veteran broker had been tight-lipped about his future political plans after news reports earlier this year revealed he had launched a non-profit political action committee called 1NY Together.

But at the annual ICSC RECon convention in Las Vegas in May, he was open about his future mayoral run while courting supporters on the convention floor, talking about his political influences (Mayor Bloomberg), his stance on policy (“pro-everything and fiscally conservative”) and emphasizing that he wouldn’t run a negative campaign.

And while Mayor de Blasio will be running for re-election next year, several recent federal and state investigations into his fundraising activities probably haven’t helped his approval rating, which is at 51 percent, according to the latest Quinnipiac University poll, released Aug. 1.

Massey isn’t the first to throw his hat in the ring; NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer has filed paperwork for a 2017 run, and President Obama’s budget director, Shaun Donovan, is reportedly eyeing a mayoral run, according to Politico.